DStv to launch streaming-only option soon – CEO

The CEO of MultiChoice South Africa, Calvo Mawela, has revealed that the company will soon launch a streaming-only version of DStv. In a podcast interview with TechCentral, he said; “We are in the early stages of the development of this and it’s in line with what DStv Now offers. We want to improve it to get it to a stage where we can go fully to market on this.”

Although the streaming product is unlikely to debut in 2018, Mawela hinted that a 2019 arrival is more likely. Various technical and marketing teams at the pay-TV broadcaster are working hard on bringing it to market.

A streaming-only version of DStv will not require a satellite dish to receive signals, rather relying on the Internet to deliver channels and on-demand content, Mawela said in the podcast, according to TechCentral.

MultiChoice DStv

Mawela further revealed that all hands are on deck to make this dream a reality “We are in the early stages of the development of this and it’s in line with what DStv Now offers. We want to improve it to get it to a stage where we can go fully to market on this.”

MultiChoice already runs the DStv Now OTT service as an added-on bundled service for DStv subscribers but will launch a stand-alone commercial version that is like this, sometime next year.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have timelines to share at this stage,” Mawela said. Asked if the product will be launched in 2018, he said: “Definitely not… We’d be lucky to get it ready for 2018.”

“In terms of timelines we would like to bring the first product possible without any glitches that can work seamlessly and without problems – that is what the teams are focused on – to make sure that when we go out to market, we have all the areas covered: Price points, how the marketing is going to be, how well it will work.”

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